After a very long wait, the government has now published its “Review of the introduction of fees in the Employment Tribunal”. This includes a consultation on proposals for reform of the system, and is available online here.

The lengthy document finds that “the original objectives [of the fee system] have broadly been met” and that “while there is clear evidence that ET fees have discouraged people from bringing claims, there is no conclusive evidence that they have been prevented from doing so”. However, “the review highlights some matters of concern that cannot be ignored” and “the Government has decided to take action to address these concerns.”

This is proposed to be done primarily through an extension of the fees remission scheme, which is set out in detail in the consultation document. However, the government has also announced an immediate exemption from fees for proceedings for recovery from the National Insurance Fund – typically claims for redundancy payments where an employer is insolvent.

The consultation closes on 14 March 2017.

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If remission of fees is being applied to redundancy cases, then it should be extended to all cases which include non payment of wages or of correct notice by an employer. We used to do a lot of cases, often half day or less, of employees in low paid employment who had lost their job and were owed back pay, holiday pay, notice pay etc often only amounting to a few hundred pounds, but very important to the individuals concerned. The introduction of fees has meant that these genuine and deserving cases are no longer being brought to the detriment of many people in lower paid employment.